Lunenburg County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Lunenburg County was formed in 1745 from Brunswick County. Part of Charlotte County was added in 1777.

The deed book of Lunenburg County in this collection was created by the County Court.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Deed Book, 1752-1754, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was named for George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of the Hanoverian kings of England. It was formed from Brunswick County in 1745.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Minute Books, circa 1746-1761, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was named for George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of the Hanoverian kings of England. It was formed from Brunswick County in 1745.

From the guide to the Official map number one of Victoria, VA, Lunenburg Co., 1915 (1926), (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was named for George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of the Hanoverian kings of England. It was formed from Brunswick County in 1745.

Two freeholders were appointed on order of the county court to procession or review the bounds of farms or tracts of land in each precinct in order to renew or replace old landmarks. This was originally a function of the church vestry, but was continued by the court after disestablishment. Persons who walked the boundaries were called processioners.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Processioner's Returns, 1820-1880 (bulk 1848-1880), (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was named for George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of the Hanoverian kings of England. It was formed from Brunswick County in 1745. Its area is 443 square miles, and the county seat is Lunenburg.

In 1723 and 1748, the General Assembly passed acts directing the trial of slaves accused of committing capital crimes and for the more effectual punishing of conspiracies and insurrections.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Oyer and Terminer Commissions, 1752-1762, (The Library of Virginia)

The claims were made in response to an act passed by the General Assembly in May 1782 (chap. 10) to ascertain the losses and injuries sustained from the depradations of the enemy within the commonwealth. The act required counties to hold special courts or to appoint members of the court to collect information and proof of the various losses and injuries sustained during the Revolutionary War. The proceedings or reports and the supporting documentation were to be submitted to the governor and council, to be laid before the next general assembly.

Lunenburg County was named for King George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of England's Hanoverian kings. It was formed from Brunswick County by an act that took effect on 1 May 1746. Part of Lunenburg County was added in 1777.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) list of damages done by British army, 1783, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was named for George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of the Hanoverian kings of England. It was formed from Brunswick County in 1745.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Marriage Licenses, 1866-1913, undated, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was formed in 1745 from Brunswick County. Part of Charlotte County was added in 1777

Lunenburg County has had three courthouse buildings since its creation in 1745. The building described in these documents is the second structure erected for the locality and the first structure on the present site.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Courthouse architectural drawing and bond, 1782, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was formed in 1745 from Brunswick County. Part of Charlotte County was added in 1777.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Deeds, 1746-1989 (bulk 1746-1935), (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was formed in 1745 from Brunswick County. Part of Charlotte County was added in 1777.

The Virginia legislature passed an act on 27 February 1866 to legalize the marriages of former slaves who had been cohabiting as of that date. See Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1866-1867, Chapter 18, An act to amend and re-enact the 14th section of chapter 108 of the Code of Virginia for 1860, in regard to registers of marriage; and to legalize the marriages of colored persons now cohabiting as husband and wife.

The federal Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands directed the Assistant Superintendents of the states to order the county clerks to make a registry of such cohabiting couples. See Circular No. 11, dated 19 March 1866, in Orders, Circulars, Circular Letters, and Letters of Instruction, vol. 2 (1866). Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of Virginia, 1865-1869. Miscellaneous reel 3880, Library of Virginia. National Archives microfilm M1048 (reel 41), Record Group 105.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons cohabiting together as Husband and Wife, 27th February 1866, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was formed in 1745 from Brunswick County. Part of Charlotte County was added in 1777.

Individuals dying with a written will died testate. After the death of an individual, his or her will was brought into court, where two of the subscribing witnesses swore that the document was genuine. After the will was proved, the executor was bonded to carry out his or her duties to settle the estate. The court then ordered the will to be recorded.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Wills, 1743-1928, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was named for George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of the Hanoverian kings of England. It was formed from Brunswick County in 1745.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Rough Order Books, circa 1746-1762, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was named for King George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of England's Hanoverian kings. It was formed from Brunswick County by an act that took effect on 1 May 1746. Part of Lunenburg County was added in 1777. The county seat is Lunenburg.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Declarations for Revolutionary War Pensions, 1825, 1829, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was named for George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of the Hanoverian kings of England. It was formed from Brunswick County in 1745.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Minute Book, 1831-1853, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was named for George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of the Hanoverian kings of England. It was formed from Brunswick County in 1745.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Clerk's Fee Book, 1887-1889, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was formed in 1745 from Brunswick County. Part of Charlotte County was added in 1777.

An act passed by the Virginia legislature in 1803 required every free negro or mulatto to be registered and numbered in a book to be kept by the county clerk.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Register of Free Negroes, 1850-1865, (The Library of Virginia)

An act of the General Assembly passed March 21, 1853, authorized formation of the Lewiston Plank Road Company to construct a road from a point on the Richmond and Danville Railroad by way of Lewiston in Lunenburg County to some point on the Meherrin River or to the Lunenburg Plank Road. Capital stock was set at $30,000 with the Board of Public Works authorized to subscribe to 3/5 or $18,000. The construction was to begin within two years, with completion by five years. An increased in capital stock was authorized March 29, 1858 by $10,000 to complete the project.

From the guide to the Lewiston Plank Road Company Minute Book, 1853-1855, (The Library of Virginia)

Chancery Causes are cases of equity. According to Black's Law Dictionary they are "administered according to fairness as contrasted with the strictly formulated rules of common law." A judge, not a jury, determines the outcome of the case.

Lunenburg County was named for George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of the Hanoverian kings of England. It was formed from Brunswick County in 1745.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1743-1921, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was named for George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of the Hanoverian kings of England. It was formed from Brunswick County in 1745.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Fee Books, circa 1746-1769, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was named for George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of the Hanoverian kings of England. It was formed from Brunswick County in 1745.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Public Buildings and Grounds, 1855-1866 and undated., (The Library of Virginia)

The account book was maintained by Washington F. Plunkett, an ironmaster who lived in Appomattox County. The iron furnace where the slaves worked may have been Stonewall Furnace located in Appomattox County.

Lunenburg County was named for George II, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, a German possession of the Hanoverian kings of England. It was formed from Brunswick County in 1745.

From the guide to the Unidentified Iron Furnace Negro Book, 1847-1848, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was formed in 1745 from Brunswick County. Part of Charlotte County was added in 1777.

Free negro lists were compiled by the commissioners of the revenue for tax purposes.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Minute Book of Taxes, 1858, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was named for George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of the Hanoverian kings of England. It was formed from Brunswick County in 1745.

Laws requiring the recording of births and deaths in Virginia were enacted as early as 1632, when a law directed ministers or churchwardens in each parish to present a "register of all burialls, christenings, and marriages" yearly at the June meeting of the court. A similar act passed in 1659 stated that "enquiries are often made for persons imported into the collonie, of whose death no positive certificate can be granted for want of registers." Few records survive from these early decades.

In 1713, the General Assembly noted that earlier acts had "for a long time been disused" and once again directed the recording of births and deaths by the minister or clerk of each parish. A return made the same year noted that the list of births and deaths was not complete since many parishes failed to make returns "for tis a thing so new to the people that neither they care to Register their Births and Burials, nor are the Parish Clerks yet brought into a regular method of transmitting them."

The recording of vital statistics continued to be an ecclesiastical function throughout the colonial period. With the disestablishment of the Anglican church after the American Revolution and the rise of other religious denominations, the record-keeping process for vital statistics fell more and more to the individual family. By the mid-nineteenth century, however, medical science began to recognize the advantages of accurate birth and mortality information in controlling and treating communicable diseases. Pressure from local and national health organizations and medical professionals resulted in the passage of vital statistics registration laws. Virginia was one of the earliest states to pass such a law.

A law requiring the systematic statewide recording of births and deaths was passed by the General Assembly on April 11 1853. Every commissioner of revenue registered births and deaths in his district annually, at the same time personal property subject to taxation was ascertained. The commissioner recorded births and deaths that had occurred prior to 31 December of the preceding year and returned the record to the clerk of court by 1 June. Information was obtained from heads of family, physicians, surgeons, or coroners. The law imposed penalties for failing to furnish or collect the information.

The clerk of court in each locality entered the information supplied by the commissioner into registers and prepared an accompanying alphabetical index. A copy of each register was forwarded to the Auditor of Public Accounts. The law went into effect on 1 July 1853, and continued until 1896, when an economy-conscious legislature repealed the recording provisions.

There was no statewide recording of births and deaths between 1896 and 1912. Several metropolitan areas continued to keep records of births and deaths for all or part of the period between 1896 and 1912. Systematic statewide registration began again in June 1912.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Birth and Death Records, 1853-1944, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was named for George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of the Hanoverian kings of England. It was formed from Brunswick County in 1745.

The 1870 Virginia Constitution required that each county in the state be divided into no less than three townships (see Article VII, section 2). Based on the New England administrative organization of a county, each township would elect the administration officials for the offices of supervisor, clerk, assessor, collector, commissioner of the roads, overseer of the poor, justice of the peace, and constable. The supervisors of each township would comprise the board of supervisors for the county, and would be responsible for auditing the county accounts, examining the assessors' books, regulating property valuation, and fixing the county levies. The Acts of Assembly provided that each township be divided into school and electoral districts (see Acts of Assembly 1869-1870, Chapter 39). A constitutional amendment in 1874 changed the townships into magisterial districts and each district elected one supervisor, three justices of the peace, one constable, and one overseer of the poor. The supervisors of the districts made up the county board of supervisors whose duties were identical as those set out in 1870. The published Acts of Assembly appended a list of township names by county following the acts for every year that townships existed in Virginia.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Township Records, 1870-1875, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was named for George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of the Hanoverian kings of England. It was formed from Brunswick County in 1745.

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands was a federal agency created by the Freedmen's Bureau Bill, passed on March 3, 1865. Also known as the "Freedmen's Bureau", this agency was responsible for aiding refugees of the Civil War, especially former slaves, in the areas of education, employment and health care. Meant to last for only one year after the war, the bureau was operational from June 1865 to December 1868.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Freedmen's Contracts, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was named for George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of the Hanoverian kings of England. It was formed from Brunswick County in 1745.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Court Records, 1825-1886, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was formed from Brunswick County in 1745. Part of Charlotte County was added in 1777.

In seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Virginia, the term "tithable" referred to a person who paid (or for whom someone else paid) one of the taxes imposed by the General Assembly for the support of civil government in the colony. In colonial Virginia, a poll tax or capitation tax was assessed on free white males, African American slaves, and Native American servants (both male and female), all age sixteen or older. Owners and masters paid the taxes levied on their slaves and servants. For a more detailed history of tithables, consult "Colonial tithables" found on the Library of Virginia's web site.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Lists of Tithables and Taxable Property, 1748-1818., (The Library of Virginia)

The apprenticing of African American minor children was done in pursuant of a circular letter issued by the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands dated October 4, 1865.

Lunenburg County and Nottoway County were in the same military district following the Civil War. The military authority was headquartered in Lunenburg County courthouse.

Lunenburg County was formed in 1745 from Brunswick County. Part of Charlotte County was added in 1777.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Apprenticeship Bonds and Indentures, 1865-1867, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was formed from Brunswick County in 1745. Portions of Charlotte County were added in 1777.

In seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Virginia, the term "tithable" referred to a person who paid (or for whom someone else paid) one of the taxes imposed by the General Assembly for the support of civil government in the colony. In colonial Virginia, a poll tax or capitation tax was assessed on free white males, African American slaves, and Native American servants (both male and female), all age sixteen or older. Owners and masters paid the taxes levied on their slaves and servants. For a more detailed history of tithables, consult "Colonial tithables" found on the Library of Virginia's web site.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.), List of Tithables, 1748-1752., (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was named for King George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of England's Hanoverian kings. It was formed from Brunswick County by an act that took effect on 1 May 1746. Part of Lunenburg County was added in 1777. The county seat is Lunenburg.

The separate office of coroner appeared in Virginia about 1660. The judicial duty of the office is to hold inquisitions in cases when persons meet sudden, violent, unnatural or suspicious death, or death without medical attendance. The coroner would summon a jury to assist him in determining cause of death. Prior to November 1877, the jurors numbered twelve. Between November 1877 and March 1926, the jurors numbered six. The jury viewed the body of the deceased and heard the testimony of witnesses. The coroner was required to write down witness testimony. After seeing and hearing the evidence, the jury delivered in writing to the coroner their conclusion concerning cause of death referred to as the inquisition. After March 1926, only the coroner determined cause of death. He could require physicians to assist him with determing cause of death. If a criminal act was determined to be the cause of death, the coroner was to deliver the guilty person to the sheriff and the coroners' inquests would be used as evidence in the criminal trial.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Coroners' Inquisitions, 1752-1924, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was formed in 1745 from Brunswick County. Part of Charlotte County was added in 1777.

Lists of free negroes and mulattoes were compiled by the commissioner of the revenue for tax purposes.

The Virginia legislature passed an act on 29 April 1867 authorizing the state government to acquire the originals or copies thereof of any marriage registers of colored people collected by the federal government. Such registers were to be deposited with the clerks of county court in order to legitimize both the marriages and the offspring of the marriages.

The General Assembly of Virginia passed a law as early as July 1, 1861, calling for the enrollment of free negroes to work in the public service. From 1862 to 1863, at the request of the president of the Confederate States, the General Assembly passed three more laws that requisitioned slaves to work on fortifications and other works of the public defense. Each county and city were alloted a certain number of slaves that had to be provided to the government under the requisition.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Free Negro and Slave Records, 1780-1868, (The Library of Virginia)

Judgments could include civil suits, chancery causes, criminal papers, free negro certificates, road petitions, land processioner's reports, coroner's inquest, grand jury list, officials' bonds, tax records, and administrators' bonds. According to Black's Law Dictionary they are "a court's final determination of the rights and obligations of the parties in a case.

Lunenburg County was formed in 1745 from Brunswick County. Part of Charlotte County was added in 1777.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Judgments, 1745-1924 and undated, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was named for King George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of England's Hanoverian kings. It was formed from Brunswick County by an act that took effect on 1 May 1746. Part of Lunenburg County was added in 1777.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Lists of property lost by result of war, 1865-1868, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was formed from Brunswick County by an act that took effect on 1 May 1746. Part of Lunenburg County was added in 1777. The county was named for King George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of England's Hanoverian kings.

Until 1780, marriages could be performed only by ministers of the Established Church, who were required by law to record marriages in the parish register. In 1780, dissenting ministers (only four per county from each sect) were first permitted to perform marriage ceremonies. In order to have a record of all marriages, ministers were required to sign a certificate to be filed with the county clerk. Intially, ministers sent marriage certificates to the clerk every three months. Some ministers adopted a custom of making collected returns--a list of marriages performed within a period of time such as a year or several years. Beginning in 1784, marriage certificates were returned annually. The law was rarely enforced, and ministers' returns were sometimes late, incorrect, incomplete, and in many instances, not made at all. County clerks compiled a register of marriages based, in part, on ministers' returns.

The ministers' returns of Lunenburg County (Va.) described in this collection were created by the County Court.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Ministers' Returns, 1850-1854, (The Library of Virginia)

Vladimir Sournin was born in 1875 into a military family in Mstislavl, Russia. In St. Petersburg, Russia, he became an expert chess player, sharpening his game under a world champion. While continuing his education in Paris, he became enamored of the American cause during the Spanish-American War and volunteered for the U.S. Army infantry. Afterwards he stayed in Washington, D.C., and began a career with the U.S. Geological Survey as a cartographer, eventually being recognized as one of the country's best draftsmen. He completed a well regarded survey of the Panama Canal Zone, then under construction, and was awarded a presidential medal for his work there.

After World War I, Sournin collaborated with General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, leader of the American Expeditionary Force in The Great War, to create a map identifying Native Americans' contributions to the war effort. Famed American Indian photographer Joseph K. Dixon personally supervised the map project and department store magnate Rodman Wannamaker funded the effort.

Sournin made his mark in the American chess community. Considered to be a near-master player, he defeated a reigning world champion in 1908 and was a five-time Washington, D. C., Capital City Chess Club champion in the 1920s and 1930s.

Sournin also began a singing career in the 1920s as "Vladimir Sournin, The Russian Baritone." He died in 1942 in Baltimore and is buried in Baltimore National Cemetery. He is still known in chess circles for his skills, and his matches are still studied.

Born in Lunenburg County, Virginia, in 1879, Lura Royall had a 21-year teaching career in Lunenburg County until she was forced to retire in 1924 after contracting tuberculosis. Royall died in 1980 at the age of 101 and is buried in the Tussekiah Baptist Church Cemetery in Lunenburg County.

The relationship between Lura Royall and Vladimir Sournin began in 1889 when he was in his early twenties and she was 19. The two carried on correspondence until 1925. Neither ever married.

From the guide to the Lura Royall and Vladimir Sournin Correspondence, 1904-1925, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was formed in 1745 from Brunswick County. Part of Charlotte County was added in 1777.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Beasley Jones and Wood Slave Trade Account Book, 1835-1851, (The Library of Virginia)

Lunenburg County was formed in 1745 from Brunswick County. Part of Charlotte County was added in 1777.

In accordance with an act passed by the General Assembly 1862 Feb. 18 and amended 1862 Oct. 1 providing a mode of exemption from military service, the county and corporation courts were directed to appoint a Board of Exemption. The board was charged with deciding all claims for military exemptions brought before it, "carefully and rigidly conforming to all the provisions of the Act of Assembly." On 1863 Feb. 13, the Governor issued an order directing that where no board had been appointed, the presiding justice of each county and corporation court, together with the two senior justices, constitute the board.

From the guide to the Lunenburg County (Va.) Proceedings of the Board of Exemption, 1862-1864, (The Library of Virginia)